Last week I took Thursday off of work. I was feeling much better from the previous weekend “illness” caused by an antibiotic. So I wanted to go see Buckshot. The weather was nice and I was so very glad to see Buckshot. Just missing a weekend felt like I had missed a lot of time with him. I got to ride him and we started in the arena. After our warm up and some trotting, I decided to try and ride alone in the trail. Buckshot did great – it was nice and quiet in the woods and he seemed very comfortable, even though there weren’t any other horses with us. We went about halfway down the trail and then turned around. His energy picked up very slightly; I guess he was happy to be going home.
But I wanted to do some more work in the arena. So after we exited the woods, I headed him towards the arena and he walked in with purpose and a good stride. He walked straight into the center of the arena and promptly stopped. I’m pretty sure he was thinking, well, now, it’s time to dismount. But I spoke to him and said we’d do a few more minutes of work, at which he immediately moved forward, three steps and stopped again! I think he was thinking, yes, you’re right, that wasn’t a good place to dismount, but this spot here, is just fine to dismount! I broke out laughing at his willingness to help me find a spot to dismount! I couldn’t help it – he just seemed so earnest about it. I laughed and laughed, and decided to, well, dismount! And give my horse a big smile and hug, and a treat! Whether it is his sense of humor, or willingness to help, either way, what a special horse!
Saturday was a good day at the farm, although we had several strong rainstorms so our riding was cut short. And Sunday was a day of wicked heat and humidity, with a heat index of 106 muggy degrees, so I didn’t ride Buckshot. Instead I planned to do some work by walking around on the lead line. After bringing Buckshot to the barn to groom him, we started walking down the road to the field arena. And guess what? We went farther than we ever have! And made it very, very close to the field arena. As I led Buckshot down the road, he followed very willingly, without any balking or hesitation. He stopped occasionally to look at horses in the pastures on the road. We reached a spot near a barn where I had previously given him a treat. This time, he stopped and softly touched my hand with his nose. A reminder, perhaps, that this was a treat spot? Probably. So I gave him a treat there.
And we kept walking. Several yards down the road, he became nervous, and smooth as silk, turned me around one hundred and eighty degrees. I let him walk a few steps in that direction and then stopped him. I told him if he would walk just ten more steps, he’d get a treat and we’d turn back. Well, we turned back around and he did walk/ slightly circle for ten additional steps beyond the farthest point. I then gave him a treat and we headed back. We were so close to our destination, but I didn’t want to push it. He had gone beyond his comfort point already. Inside, I was thrilled at how far he had gone – so willingly and trustingly! I’m sure we will make our destination in a few more attempts! There is grass there I can’t wait to let him eat. I am so proud of Buckshot.
We walked back down to road and went into the arena. We did a few exercises walking around and over several cavaletti. He even backed up over them. After a few minutes, I said let’s go walk on the trail. And we headed into the trail. We walked very far into the trail by ourselves. Buckshot was willing and trusting, stopping to sniff every pile of poop, but otherwise, without any problems. I finally stopped us, took a drink of water (the day was so hot and humid the trail was like a sauna!), gave him a treat, and turned around to head back. He followed willingly.
When we exited the woods, I was thrilled with him! We had never walked so far in the woods by ourselves before! What a willing and confident horse he was! I took him to his stall, not to untack him (he only had a halter and lead line on), but to get his “post-work” treats, and get his rinsing tools, and we went to the wash stall for a nice rinse. Then I took my amazing horse back to his pasture, telling him all the way what a wonderful horse he is!! I am still so proud of him, of his willingness to go on two adventures, further than we had gone before, and with such a good attitude. When he became nervous at one point, he let me know, and then trusted me with a few more steps. I know it may seem so ordinary, we were just walking various places, but for me, it was an exciting day for us, and makes me just so proud of him! I hope you had a wonderful time with your horses also!
On another topic, last night I saw the movie “Buck” about horse trainer Buck Brannaman. I thought it was a good movie. It relayed his background and history, and his current clinics. It shared a little bit of his training theories. In my opinion, he seems to be a very nice, low key person, a great horse trainer with a lot of empathy for horses and a general all-around nice person. Someone I’d love to have the opportunity to talk to in person some day. I find him such a contrast from the hard-charging, heavy-handed marketing-type clinicians. Unfortunately, I can’t say that I learned a lot from the movie; in fact, I wish he had shared more of his theories, practices and philosophies. Watching him ride his horse in a field, and perform the most beautiful, controlled, soft moves with a horse was breathtaking. It was far beyond any maneuvers I ever will be able to do, but I appreciated seeing such lovely riding by an expert. There are also some raw and difficult sections of the movie, e.g., the physical abuse he suffered as a young child, as well as issues with a dangerous horse at one of his clinics. Overall, I liked the movie and do recommend it to horse fans. But it isn’t really a movie for children because of the topics just mentioned. For adult horse fans, it is a good movie. What are your thoughts on it?
One woman's reflections on her journey with horses...
Tuesday, August 9, 2011
Tuesday, August 2, 2011
Missed Weekend
This will be my shortest post ever. This past weekend I didn’t get out to the farm at all, because I was sick. Taking an antibiotic for a tiny infection on one of my fingers caused me to feel like I had gotten a bad case of the flu. I felt terrible physically. So I stayed in all weekend and missed Buckshot! I can’t wait to see him again. I hope he liked having a little vacation.
Monday, July 25, 2011
Extreme Weather - Fun Horse!
This weekend was the first weekend of really extreme weather here in Virginia- temperatures in the high 90’s with severe humidity causing very high heat indices. Add strong sun, and this was weather just to survive. So I took all my serious weather gear to the barn to see how Buckshot was doing. He handled the weather just fine. I planned to do just very easy things with him, no riding definitely in such weather, but I had some ideas about things to do on the ground.
On Saturday, I took him from his pasture to graze in some grassy areas. Then we walked down the road. He walked further than he had in the past- about ten yards further! Good boy! Then more grazing and walking around. He led me in the direction of the barn (perhaps he wanted some of the alfalfa hay I give him there?) but we went on by it and back to his pasture.
By that time, I needed a major rest from the heat, so I repaired to the main barn, a big fan, an outdoor chair, bottles of water and a snack, and just chilled out. After recovering, I had an epiphany about going down the road, and went to get his stall ready for some grooming – putting alfalfa hay, a bit of sweet feed, and clean water in the stall. I went back to Buckshot’s pasture and got him again, took him out grazing, and headed again to the road.
He walked nicely down the road as he had done an hour ago. This time, when he stopped and seemed to be at the end of his confidence, I turned to him and said “Buckshot, walk. Treat.” And he started walking again! LOL! He walked another twenty yards before he stopped. At that I was so thrilled, I praised him and dug into my tote bag for the German horse muffins that he loves. Good boy!
I hadn’t previously thought to use treats before, and specifically, announced treats, to help him on the road. It worked wonderfully! It motivated him to walk a bit further than he had, and it gave him a reward that he loves! We turned back and went back to the barn, where in his stall, he found his alfalfa hay, and I groomed him. I then took him to the wash stall and gave him a nice rinse of cool water, squeegeed him, and walked him back to his pasture. What a good boy he was! And on such a hot day, too.
On Sunday, the weather promised to be just as miserable as Saturday, so I decided to give Buckshot a new challenge, one that would be fine in such hot weather. After grazing him a bit, I led him to a shady area, apologizing that there just are some times when the human needs a shady spot. LOL! Then I taught him how to bow! I said the word “bow” then pulled his head gently down toward the ground, then I tapped behind a front leg with my hand until he moved it forward. I praised him and gave him some apple pieces. We did this several times so I think he understands the work “bow” now. How fun! I told him he should practice it this week in his pasture, so we’ll see on Wednesday night, when I go back, how improved he is!
After our training session, I led him down the road, eager to try the announced treat again. He walked calmly as far as he went the day before, then he stopped. I turned to him and said “Walk, Buckshot, treat.” And he started walking again, energetically. We made it very far down the road before he stopped again! I then gave him praise, his muffin treats, and we headed back, to the barn and to the alfalfa-grooming again. I am so proud of him, that he walked quite far out of his comfort range this weekend. I am glad that I thought of introducing treats, and announcing them (as a sort of bribery, I know), and it did motivate him. I look forward to doing more of it, and getting him all the way to the end of the road!
Despite horrible weather, I had a wonderful weekend with Buckshot, doing some new and fun things. What a wonderful horse! I hope you found some non-riding fun things to do as well. Breathe over at HorseCentric blog had a great time with her horses, doing a fun game with them. I want to try a similar game myself. Thanks for the inspiration, Breathe!
On Saturday, I took him from his pasture to graze in some grassy areas. Then we walked down the road. He walked further than he had in the past- about ten yards further! Good boy! Then more grazing and walking around. He led me in the direction of the barn (perhaps he wanted some of the alfalfa hay I give him there?) but we went on by it and back to his pasture.
By that time, I needed a major rest from the heat, so I repaired to the main barn, a big fan, an outdoor chair, bottles of water and a snack, and just chilled out. After recovering, I had an epiphany about going down the road, and went to get his stall ready for some grooming – putting alfalfa hay, a bit of sweet feed, and clean water in the stall. I went back to Buckshot’s pasture and got him again, took him out grazing, and headed again to the road.
He walked nicely down the road as he had done an hour ago. This time, when he stopped and seemed to be at the end of his confidence, I turned to him and said “Buckshot, walk. Treat.” And he started walking again! LOL! He walked another twenty yards before he stopped. At that I was so thrilled, I praised him and dug into my tote bag for the German horse muffins that he loves. Good boy!
I hadn’t previously thought to use treats before, and specifically, announced treats, to help him on the road. It worked wonderfully! It motivated him to walk a bit further than he had, and it gave him a reward that he loves! We turned back and went back to the barn, where in his stall, he found his alfalfa hay, and I groomed him. I then took him to the wash stall and gave him a nice rinse of cool water, squeegeed him, and walked him back to his pasture. What a good boy he was! And on such a hot day, too.
On Sunday, the weather promised to be just as miserable as Saturday, so I decided to give Buckshot a new challenge, one that would be fine in such hot weather. After grazing him a bit, I led him to a shady area, apologizing that there just are some times when the human needs a shady spot. LOL! Then I taught him how to bow! I said the word “bow” then pulled his head gently down toward the ground, then I tapped behind a front leg with my hand until he moved it forward. I praised him and gave him some apple pieces. We did this several times so I think he understands the work “bow” now. How fun! I told him he should practice it this week in his pasture, so we’ll see on Wednesday night, when I go back, how improved he is!
After our training session, I led him down the road, eager to try the announced treat again. He walked calmly as far as he went the day before, then he stopped. I turned to him and said “Walk, Buckshot, treat.” And he started walking again, energetically. We made it very far down the road before he stopped again! I then gave him praise, his muffin treats, and we headed back, to the barn and to the alfalfa-grooming again. I am so proud of him, that he walked quite far out of his comfort range this weekend. I am glad that I thought of introducing treats, and announcing them (as a sort of bribery, I know), and it did motivate him. I look forward to doing more of it, and getting him all the way to the end of the road!
Despite horrible weather, I had a wonderful weekend with Buckshot, doing some new and fun things. What a wonderful horse! I hope you found some non-riding fun things to do as well. Breathe over at HorseCentric blog had a great time with her horses, doing a fun game with them. I want to try a similar game myself. Thanks for the inspiration, Breathe!
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